Polish government blames hooligans for violence at farmer protests

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s government is blaming hooligans and provocateurs for this week’s violent clashes during farmer protests that left many police officers injured. The government is vowing to prosecute the offenders. Warsaw police say that 14 officers were hurt, one of them seriously, when aggressive participants in a massive farmer protest Wednesday pelted officers with pavement stones and other objects. The police used tear gas against them. More than 50 participants were detained and 26 of them are under investigation. Poland’s interior minister says that hooligans and provocateurs joined the otherwise legal protest of angry farmers against European Union’s Green Deal program and against unrestricted food imports from Ukraine.